DSX module with removable jack

ABSTRACT

A jack module system is disclosed. The system includes a housing ( 12 ) defining an interior. The system also includes first and second jacks ( 14, 14′ ). Each jack ( 14, 14′ ) includes a jack body ( 100 ) including upper and lower edges. Receiving means are disposed within the housing ( 12 ) for slidably receiving the jack bodies ( 100 ) in a first direction and slidably removing the jack bodies ( 100 ) in a direction opposite the first direction. The jacks ( 14, 14′ ) are stacked along an axis perpendicular to the first transverse dimension. The system also includes a cover ( 102 ) removably securing the jack bodies ( 100 ).

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/226,761,filed Jan. 6, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,328,608 B1, and Ser. No.08/808,086, filed Feb. 28, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,701, whichapplication(s) are incorporated herein by reference.

I. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention pertains to switching jacks for the telecommunication anddata and video transmission industries. More particularly, thisinvention pertains to a module containing removable switching jacks.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In the telecommunications industry, modules having switching jacks forperforming inter-connect and cross-connect functions are well known. Anexample of such is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,104 to Willams et aldated Mar. 21, 1989. With reference to FIG. 5 of the '104 Patent, jacks144 are mounted in the interior of a housing and permanently connectedto cables 82,84,86,88 which extend rearwardly from the jacks toconnectors 74,76,78 and 80 on a rear panel of the module housing.

The jacks used in inter-connect and cross-connect modules are well knownswitching jacks. In addition to those shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,104,switching coax jacks are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,749,968 toBurroughs dated June 1988, U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,491 to Louwagie et aldated Sep. 20, 1994 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,246,378 to the Seiceanu datedSep. 21, 1993. Both of the '491 and '378 patents teach jack moduleswhich include not only switching components but monitor ports forpermitting monitoring functions without signal interruption.

From time to time, switching jacks may fail. While this is a lowprobability event, it requires replacement of the switching jack. Indesigns such as that of U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,104, the entire jack modulemust be replaced in the event of the failure of any one of the twoswitching jacks.

It is undesirable to have to remove the entire jack module in the eventof the failure of one of the two switching jacks within the jack module.Further, as telecommunications facilities are being developed, it isdesirable to pre-cable and install modules without the need for havingswitching jacks present during the cabling. For example, with referenceto U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,104, the module is installed in a cabinet andtelecommunications equipment is secured to the module by coax cablescoupled to the connectors on the rear panel of the module. The forwardports on the module permit access to the circuit as desired. However,normal operation proceeds without any access occurring.

When being developed, telecommunications equipment facilities findeconomies in the ability to cable-up modules during the development ofthe facilities prior to the modules actually being needed for use.However, this is a very expensive procedure since the switching jackmodules are idle for a substantial period of time. If the jacks wereseparate from the module, the modules could be pre-installed withoutjacks during the facilities development phase and jacks could be addedto the modules as the circuit requirements of the facility grew.

It is an object of the present invention to provide DSX modules withremovable switching jacks.

II. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, aswitching coax jack module is disclosed which includes a housing unithaving walls defining an interior. Interior walls define first andsecond recesses disposed along the front end of the module. Coax cableconnectors are secured to an end wall of the housing and sliding coaxconnectors are mounted on the interior walls in communication with therecesses. Coax cables connect the sliding coax connectors with the coaxcable connectors on the end walls. Each of the sliding coax connectorsis adapted to slidably receive an individual one of a mating connector.Jack devises are provided each having a jack body sized to be receivedwithin the recesses. Mating connectors are provided on rear walls of thejack bodies and positioned to slidably mate with the sliding coaxconnectors as the jack body is inserted into the recess.

III. A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a module according to the presentinvention for use in an interconnect application;

FIG. 1A is a side elevation view of FIG. 1 with the jacks and theinternal cables shown in exploded form;

FIG. 2 is front elevation of the module in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a rear elevation view of the module of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of a housing for use in the module ofFIG. 1 and showing a sliding coax connector attached to a coax cable;

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the sliding coax connector and attachedcable of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a rear perspective view of an internal wall structure of thehousing of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a front perspective view of the wall structure of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a side elevation view of the wall structure of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a view taken along a line 9—9 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a side sectional view of the wall structure of FIG. 6;

FIG. 11 is a rear perspective view of the housing shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 12 is a side elevation view of the housing of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a rear elevation view of housing of FIG. 11;

FIG. 14 is a rear perspective view of a jack device (less front panel)for use in the module of FIG. 1;

FIG. 15 is a side elevation view of the jack device of FIG. 14 with acover member removed to expose internal components;

FIG. 16 is an electrical schematic of the jack device of FIG. 14;

FIG. 17 is a front elevation view of the jack device of FIG. 14;

FIG. 18 is a partial sectional side elevation view of the jack device ofFIG. 14;

FIG. 19 is rear elevation view of the jack device of FIG. 14;

FIG. 20 is a front perspective view of a front panel for the jack deviceof FIG. 14; and

FIG. 21 is a rear perspective view of the front panel of FIG. 20;

IV. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the several drawing figures in which identical elementsare numbered identically throughout, a description of a preferredembodiment of the present invention will now be provided.

With initial reference to FIGS. 1-3, a jack module 10 is shown includinga housing unit 12 and two jack devices (or, more simply, jacks) 14,14′.As will be more fully described, the jacks 14,14′, are individuallyremovable from the housing unit 12. The housing has a front end 22, arear end 24, a side wall 26 and top and bottom walls 28, 30. The walls28,30,24,22, and side wall 26 define a housing interior 29.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3, the jack module 10 is an interconnectmodule for interconnect applications. As such it does not include tracerlamps and pin jacks commonly found in modules for cross-connectapplications. It will be appreciated that the present invention can beutilized for both inter-connect and cross-connect applications as wellas other uses.

The housing unit 12 includes a sheet metal housing 16 (most clearlyshown in FIGS. 4 and 11-13), together with an internal wall structure 20(separately shown in FIGS. 6-10).

A longitudinal axis X—X (FIG. 1 only) extends from the front wall 22 tothe rear wall 24 with the top and bottom walls 28,30 being parallel tothe longitudinal axis X—X. Best shown in FIG. 2, the front end 22extends in a first transverse dimension Y—Y perpendicular to axis X—Xand has a transverse width Z throughout the length of axis Y—Y. Theinterior wall structure 20 is positioned within the interior 29 andcontained within the width dimension Z.

The top and bottom walls 28,30 include rails 32 to be received withinaligned grooves (not shown) of a chassis (not shown) into which thehousing 12 may be inserted in side-by-side relation to similarlyconstructed modules contained within the same chassis. The front wallhas mounting tabs 23 for attachment to a chassis. Mounting blocks 25having mounting screws 27 passing through tabs 23.

The housing contains the interior wall structure 20 which defines tworecesses 34,34′ (FIG. 4) which are linearly aligned along the axis Y—Yand open to the front end 22.

The interior wall structure 20 is best shown in FIGS. 6-10 and includesparallel spaced apart guide rails 40,41,40′ and 41′ which are parallelto axis X—X and spaced apart to define the recesses 34,34′. The walls40,40′,41, 41′ are joined by an end wall 44. Further, extending fromwalls 40,40′ are front wall portions 22 a,22 b, which define the frontwall 22 of the housing 12. Each of the rails 40,40′,41,41′ is spacedback from the front wall portions 22 a,22 b to define a recess 42 (FIG.8).

A support 50 is attached to wall 40 for supporting a tracer lamp and pinjack (not shown) as are customarily used in cross-connect applicationsto permit tracer lamps and pin jacks to be inserted within the structure50 and accessed through the wall 22 a for cross-connect applications.

The side wall 26 of the housing has a cutout 45 (FIGS. 11 and 12) at theforward end. The wall structure 20 is mounted with screws receivedwithin bosses 43 and with the rear wall 44 aligned with the edge of thecutout 45.

Coax connectors 60,61,61′,60′ are secured to the rear wall 24 forattachment to coaxial cables. The connectors 60,61,60′,61′ are wellknown BNC connectors in a preferred embodiment.

Pairs of identical sliding coax connectors 60 a,61 a,60 a′,61 a′ aremounted to the rear wall 44. Connectors 60,60 a; 61,61 a; 60′,60 a′ and61′,61 a′ are joined by coaxial cables 60 b,60 b′,61 b,6 b′ completelycontained within the interior 29 of the housing as best shown in FIG. 1.

Each of the mating sliding coax connectors is identical. For ease ofillustration, connector 60 a is best shown with reference to FIGS. 4 and5. The connector 60 a includes fingers 62 which are resilient springcontacts disposed in a cylindrical array mounted to a mandrel 64 and ahub 66. The hub 66 can be press fit within holes formed in the rear wall44. A center pin 68 is contained within a dielectric spacer 70 anddisposed within the hub 66 with the center pin 68 centrally positionedsurrounded by the fingers 62.

A cable 60 b is secured to the sliding connector with a center conductor72 of cable 60 b received within the pin 68 and with the groundshield 74and jacket 76 of the cable 60 b secured to the mandrel 64 by a crimpsleeve 78.

Best shown in FIG. 10, the rear wall 44 contains three holes81,82,83,81′,82′,83′ for each of the recesses 34,34′. The holes81,82,83,81′,82′,83′ include a center hole 82,82′ having an axisparallel to and centrally positioned between walls 40,41 and 40′,41′.Remaining holes 81,83; 81′,83′ are parallel to and equally spaced fromholes 82,82′ on opposite sides thereof. All of the holes in the rearwall 44 are disposed in a linear array along the dimension of the axisY—Y.

For reasons that will become apparent, each of walls 40,41,40′,41′ isarcuate in cross-section and includes opposing surfaces such that wall40 arcs toward and opposes wall 41 and wall 40′ opposes and arcs towardwall 41′. The walls have opposing linear grooves 84 (FIG. 9) extendingthe lengths of the walls.

Concentric with each of holes 81-83 and 81′-83′, the wall 44 has bores81 a-83 a and 81 a′-83 a′ as shown in FIG. 9. The bores 81 a-83 a, 81a′-83 a′ are sized for each to pass a standard BNC connector forpurposes that will become apparent.

The fingered contacts 62 of the sliding connector 60 a,61 a,60 a′ and 61a′ are sized to be slidably engaged on the interior of a standard BNCconnector as the BNC connector is inserted into bores 82 a,83 a,82 a′and 83 a′, respectively, and urged toward the sliding connector. Slidingconnectors and mating connectors are shown in operation in FIGS. 17 and18 of commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,673 to Morgenstern et aldated May 25, 1993.

The jack 14,14′ are identical and include a jack body 100 and a coverplate 102. The jack body 100 is shown separately in FIGS. 14-19. Thejack body 100 includes left and right shells 101 which are joined at apart line 103. The jack body has a width approximately equal to thetransverse dimension Z (FIG. 2). The height of the body is equal to thespacing between opposing walls 40,41 and 40′,41′. The upper and loweredges 104,106 of the body are complimentary shaped to the shaping of thewalls 40,41,40′,41′ and include a flange 108 to be received within thegrooves 84 of the walls 40,41,40′,41′.

A rear end 110 of the body is provided with BNC connectors 112,113 whichare sized to fit within the bores 81 a-83 a, 81 a′-83 a′. Accordinglythe BNC connectors 112,113 are mating sliding connectors such that thefingers 62 of the sliding connectors 60 a,61 a,60 a′,61 a′ are receivedwithin the interior of the BNC connectors 112,113 and urge against theinterior cylindrical wall of the BNC connectors 112,113. Best shown inFIGS. 18 and 19, each of the BNC connectors 112,113 includes an internalcenter pin 112 a,113 a which is hollow to receive the solid center pin68 of the sliding connectors 60 a,61 a,60 a′,61 a′ when the BNCconnector is slidably coupled with the sliding connector.

The forward wall 111 of the jack body 100 includes three ports121,122,123 including two ports 122,123 aligned with each of the BNCconnectors 112,113. Each of the ports 121-123 expose an interior centerconductor 121 a-123. An OUT center conductor 122 a extends through thecenter port 122 and is electrically connected to the center pin 112 athe rear BNC connector 112. An IN center conductor 123 a extends fromthe lower port 123 and the center conductor 113 a of the lower BNCconnector 113. A switching circuit 125 is provided between the twocenter conductors 122 a,123 a such that insertion of a plug into eitherof the ports 122,123 terminates a normal electrical connection betweenthe BNC connector locations 112,113 and isolates the opposite centerconductor to ground.

The third port 121 includes a center conductor 121 a connected across toresistance 126 to the OUT conductor 122 a. Insertion of a plug into thethird port 121 permits monitoring of a signal on the OUT centerconductor 122 a without interrupting flow of a signal from the middleBNC connector 112 to the lower BNC connector 113.

The jack 100 is electrically conductive to provide a groundshield forinternal circuit components. It will be appreciated that jacks with suchinternal circuitry are well known in the art and examples of such areshown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,491.

The forward end 111 of the jack includes flats 130 disposed on bothsides of the jack 100 between the ports 121-123. The flats 130 havethreaded bores 130 a for receiving screws 132 (FIG. 1).

The dielectric cover 102 is shown in FIGS. 20 and 21 and includes threeholes 121 b,122 b,123 b to be aligned with the ports 121-123 such thatthe cover 102 can be slid over the ports 121-123 onto the front end 111of the jack 100. Holes 130 b on the sides of the covers 102 permit thepassage of the threaded screw 132 through the front plate 102 and intothe holes 130 a on the sides of the jack 100 to securely fasten thefront cover 102 to the front 111 of the jack 100.

The front cover 102 is provided with flanges including and upper flange150 sized to be received within the recess 42. A hole 151 is passedthrough the flange 150 and aligned with a threaded insert 152,152′ (FIG.4) in the recess 42. As a result, a screw 154 (FIG. 2) can be removablyreplaced into the holes 151,152 to removably secure the jack 14 to themodule 10.

A second flange 160 protrudes along an opposite side of the front plate102. The flanges 150,160 are sized such that when two jacks 14,14′ areplaced within the recesses as illustrated in FIG. 1, the front plates102 are received within the recesses 42 and form a continuous plasticplate along the front edge 22.

It will be noted that the rear wall 44 of the interior wall structure 20includes three holes per recess including a centrally positioned hole82,82′ and the remaining holes 81,81′,83,83′ being symmetrical about thecentrally positioned hole 82,82′. Three holes are utilized to permitmodification of the design to include a monitor BNC mating connector offof the rear end 110 of the jack 100 to couple with a monitor slidingconnector which could be added into the third hole to permit monitoringcapabilities off of the rear end 24 of the module 10. Also, three holesare provided to permit the manufacturer of an end wall symmetrical aboutaxis X—X.

The positioning of the holes on the rear wall 44 and their relativespacing is selected to be symmetrical about the axis of the center hole82,82′. Further, the rear BNC 112 is selected to be positioned along thecenter line between the top and bottom edges 104,106 of the jack. As aresult, the center BNC 112 connects with the center hole 82,82′ slidingconnector whenever the jack is rotated 180 degrees about it'slongitudinal axis. Accordingly, the jack can be fitted into either ofthe upper or lower recesses 34,34′ without the need for a separateinventory of different jacks for the upper and lower recesses. The frontplates may be provided with silk screening or other indicators which maybe rotated as desired to provide an indication to an operator of thevarious functions of the ports.

With the devise thus described, an individual jack may be removed andreplaced without the need for removal of the other jack within themodule or without need for removal of the entire module from aninstallation. Furthermore, a module (without jack), may be pre-cabled inan installation and jacks may be added to modules when desired to bringa circuit on-line. Also, the design permits a single inventory of jackswhich may be symmetrically positioned. Further, the mating geometry ofthe guide walls and edges of the jacks insure accurate alignment of thejacks when they are slid into position to be immediately coupled withthe sliding connectors. The passage of a screw through the upper flangeof each of the front plates permits a jack to be secured to the moduleand prevents undesired disruption of the jack when a plug is inserted orremoved from a jack port.

When the foregoing detailed description of the present invention it hasbeen shown how the objects of the invention have been obtained in apreferred manner. Modifications and equivalents of the disclosedconcepts such as those which readily occur to one skilled in the art areintended to be included within the scope of the claims which areappended hereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A jack module system comprising: a housingdefining an interior, the interior having access through an opening;first and second jacks, each jack having a jack body having a front anda rear and a width having a first transverse dimension, said jack bodyfurther having upper and lower edges; first and second mating connectorsdisposed on said rear of said jack body with an axis between said upperand lower edges parallel with a second transverse dimension; said jackbody including first and second forward ports on said front wall forreceiving a jack plug; a switching circuit within said body for normallyelectrically connecting said mating connectors in the absence of a jackplug in either of said ports and for opening said connection uponinsertion of a jack plug into either of said ports; receiving meansdisposed within the interior of the housing for slidably receiving thejack bodies in a first direction, wherein the jacks are stacked along anaxis perpendicular to the first transverse dimension when received intothe receiving means and wherein the jacks are slidably removable in adirection opposite the first direction; a cover removably securing thejack bodies in the receiving means, the cover defining at least oneopening aligned with one of the forward ports; rear electrical accesslocations on the housing; and an electrical link between the first andsecond mating connectors of the jack bodies and the rear electricalaccess locations on the housing.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein thecover includes two sections, wherein each section is capable ofindependently securing a single jack body into the receiving means. 3.The system of claim 1, wherein each of the upper and lower edges of eachof the jack bodies include a pair of opposed arcuately shaped walls andthe receiving means includes a complementary structure for slidablyreceiving the arcuately shaped walls.
 4. The system of claim 1, whereineach jack body is capable of being slidably received into the receivingmeans in a first position and also capable of being inserted into thereceiving means after being rotated 180 degrees from the first positionalong an axis defined by a centerline of the jack body.
 5. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the cover includes first and second sections, andfurther wherein the first section removably secures the first jack bodyinto the receiving means and the second section removably secures thesecond jack body into the receiving means.
 6. The system of claim 1,wherein the cover is received into a recess in the opening of thehousing to form a planar face over the opening.